Your dining room dilemmas, solved

New York designer and author Katie Ridder, whose ideas for dining rooms were featured in a cover story for The Washington Post's Local Living section, joined staff writer Jura Koncius on the newspaper's recent Home Front online chat. Here is an edited excerpt.

Q. How big should a light fixture above the dining room table be in relationship to the table? Also, how low should it sit over the table?

A. Thirty-six inches is the rule of thumb for height, but I find eyeballing it is best because sometimes if the fixture is solid, it needs to be hung higher. Size-wise, I would say two-thirds the diameter of the table or smaller is nice.

Q. As you mentioned in the (Post) article, many of us have too much brown furniture. What are your best ideas for livening up the room without replacing the furniture?

A. If the table isn't too valuable, what about painting it a high-gloss color? Of course, this is labor-intensive, but it would be a nice way to break up all the brown.

Q. If your dining room furniture is predominantly brown, what paint colors would flatter it?

A. Peacock blue!

Q. Any fun ideas for things to place on my upright piano? I'm tired of the framed pictures.

A. What about a lamp? I prefer clean surfaces for tops of pianos.

Q. How do you feel about carpets under a dining room table? I would love the look of an Oriental rug, but there is no way it would stay clean.

A. Oriental carpets are great under a dining room table. With the busy pattern, it hides a host of sins.

Q. I have a beautiful finish on my walnut dining table. I don't want to cover it up with a tablecloth, but I also don't want my table scratched or filled with water rings. I am not a fan of those traditional British place mats that have a hard coating and cork bottom, although they do the job well. How can I protect my table while still keeping its style? Also, do you have to use coasters?

A. I use place mats - Svenskt Tenn (svenskttenn.se/en) has some cool ones - but I don't use coasters. I just wipe up soon after the meal ends, and I've never had a problem.

Q. Is it possible to use latex paint over an area that was painted with oil-based paint?

A. Yes, as long as you paint a primer before you change finishes.

Q. I have a smallish dining room (11 by 12 feet) and am lucky enough to have my grandmother's 1913 Mission oak dining room table. Plus, I have a china cabinet that takes up a lot of space. Because of that, the chandelier is off-center with respect to the table. We are about to change all our lighting. Should the new chandelier use the same electrical connection where the old one is, but perhaps use a hook or something to change where it hangs so it can be centered over the table?

A. I love the hook idea. I've done that before to great success.

Q. We are lucky to have a large dining room but have only one chandelier for lighting. This makes the perimeter of the room shadowy and the room less cozy and inviting. What are our options for supplemental lighting? Would floor lamps seem odd?

A. I have the same problem in my dining room. The best option is to add in-the-ceiling lights, but I don't want to spend the money tearing up my ceiling. I have added floor lamps to the corners of the room, and it looks good.

Q. I am repainting the main floor of my midcentury house. The living and dining rooms are separated by a large opening, and there is a lot of natural light. The baseboard and window trim is white. I was initially thinking of using Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray or Revere Pewter for the walls, but now I am thinking I would like to incorporate a pale blue. I also don't know what white to use for the trim. Can you suggest some Benjamin Moore colors?

A. My go-to whites from Benjamin Moore are White Dove for a warm white and Super White for a stark white.

Q. Is semigloss paint necessary for a bathroom? I'm having a small bathroom completely remodeled, and I bought a sample jar of paint and applied it to the wall. It looks too shiny, but I'm wondering whether a satin or eggshell paint would be less moisture-resistant.

A. Both satin and eggshell finishes are fine. Oil paint will last longer, but it's not environmentally friendly. Many painters will not use it, but I do.

Q. I want to host large potluck dinners, but my table won't fit them. What do you suggest?

A. You can purchase folding tables (about $40) and stackable chairs for the room adjacent to the dining room for these occasions and cover the table in a linen tablecloth.